The DT headline news today is that Nigel Farage's bank, Coutts, unilaterally shut down his bank account with them, not, as they said originally because his assets fell below a minimum figure but because:
He doesn't align with our values He is seen as zenophobic and racist. He is considered by many to be a disingenuous grifter. Being associated with NF represents a material and ongoing reputaional risk to the bank
So now you know, we have a a new set of self-appointed censors in the land. Hold the wrong political views - and thats it, your bank account will be closed down.
And why should they stop at political views? Will the banks start closing the bank accounts of any one with contentious ethical or religious views, or because they are in the public eye for some aspect of their behaviour.
Will Huw Edwards, Philip Schofield, Katie Price, Prince Harry have their bank accounts closed down because the banks, who daily process millions, if not billions of £s for drug dealers, corrupt members of corrupt regimes, whose people starve while they stash £millions away in secret bank accounts, consider that the above named ^do not align with their values'
Who gave the banks, and when, the right to censor what we do and what we think and withdraw, that absolute essential of life today - a bank account - because someone's political or other views offend their delicate consciences?
Ailidh
I'm with Vegansrock. No private company is compelled to do business with someone whose views are incompatible with the company's values, except when not to do so would be illegal.
There are other banks.
Some water companies are private companies as far as I know.
vegansrock
But Farage wasn’t denied banking facilities because of a protected characteristic. If I owned a sweet shop and refused to serve some one because of their race or sexuality that would be illegal, but if I refused to serve Farage because I considered he had destroyed my business then that would be perfectly legal. May not be moral in some peoples view, but that’s the law. As I understand it, Farage was offered an account with Nat West, but he didn’t consider this good enough. So he wasn’t denied any banking facilities just that one particular bank.
You'd be quite happy if I refused to serve you due to my dislike of your political beliefs. You'd be quite happy for your bank to disclose your private details to the beeb, and the said beeb passed on these lies,along with two of their journalists.
Stasi comes to mind. Laugh all you like, refusing banking to someone because of your beliefs, appalling. I can't abide Lammy and his anti white racism, wouldn't not want him to lose the ability to pay bills etc. 17 million people voted for Brexit,5 million people voted Farage into the EU parliament. Should Banks should ban all of those too. Having had this done to me, as previously stated, it can ruin people's lives. Banks have no right to moralise, and hopefully the Financial ombudsman will bring in legislation to stop this happening again, because believe me it doesn't just happen to high profile people. Rant over.
Good post TerriBull.
Banks, basically, virtue-signalling?
Coutts has handled this very badly. They have given Farage a platform when I hoped he was heading into obscurity.
I agree Coutts have handled this badly and I am no defender of bankers but NF hasn’t been denied banking, just at that particular bank. Please Freya5 give an example of David Lament’s anti white racism. That is an unnecessary slur.
There may yet be more to this than we’ve been told so far.
news.sky.com/story/coutts-bank-hits-back-amid-nigel-farage-account-row-12924062
Casdon
There may yet be more to this than we’ve been told so far.
news.sky.com/story/coutts-bank-hits-back-amid-nigel-farage-account-row-12924062
That’s rich talking about client confidentiality when they tipped off the BBC. They both lied.
They are scrambling around trying to come out of this unharmed. My husband is closing his NatWest account today and it is significant. I have heard others are doing the same.
Farage was offered only a private account and he needed a business account.
It is a story that is going to run and run by the looks of things.
What ever people think of NF?
The bank should not have acted like this, have they done this to anyone else? agree he's not going to let this drop.
Bad publicity for Coutts.
What business does Farage run that he needs an account with Coutts? oh I know he has to pocket all that cash his gullible fans sent him.
Just seen NF on TV. He says he has been astonished at the support he has received from people who thank him for highlighting this. He is still receiving messages from people who have been told their accounts are being closed. One today, being from a children's charity.
He is urging people affected to obtain a Subject Access Request from their bank which he never knew existed until this all blew up.
He was asked whether he will now sue Coutts but he said he is keeping his options open.
vegansrock
What business does Farage run that he needs an account with Coutts? oh I know he has to pocket all that cash his gullible fans sent him.
Aaahhh, are you disappointed that they found no evidence of any link to Russia now or in the past? Sour grapes are not good are they?😉
I'll just leave this here. An 'unrolled' twitter thread by barrister, Sam Fowles KC, with screen shots of bits of the Coutts documents.
Farage's account was terminated because he wouldn't have enough money in it after July this year. Commercial reasons.
They'd looked at his personal 'views' in the past and yet decided to keep him on until he no longer fulfilled their commercial criteria.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1681919318085234693.html
I think a bank, like any business, can refuse any customer it likes (or doesn't like!) as long as the refusal isn't because of a Protected Characteristic - age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
MaizieD
I'll just leave this here. An 'unrolled' twitter thread by barrister, Sam Fowles KC, with screen shots of bits of the Coutts documents.
Farage's account was terminated because he wouldn't have enough money in it after July this year. Commercial reasons.
They'd looked at his personal 'views' in the past and yet decided to keep him on until he no longer fulfilled their commercial criteria.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1681919318085234693.html
That's what the memo states, but it's being spun differently.
And you have proof of that vegansrock? I'd be careful if I were you,your comment could be described as libelous.
I’ve always wondered where Farage gets all his money from. Maybe Coutts don’t want to be implicated in handling it!
They have offered him a current account just not a business account, unless I read that wrongly. Surely that suggests his business activities are what they are objecting to. I guess that's their right if they see him as a risk. Where does that leave the rest of us I wonder? Lots of us start and run businessess that may become unviable but that's the nature of business, many fail. If this is political then there's no excuse imho but if it's because they object to aspects of his business and a business account isn't a given right as far as I know. I guess criminal gangs launder cash through legitimate businesses and that's harder to identify so denying Farage on the basis of his views (horrible though many of them are) is really just picking the low hanging fruit and not addressing the real problems of corruption and money laundering. Always the same isn't it! I bet the Post Office, with an extremely, almost unbelievably, despicable business record in terms of persecution of their sub-postmasters and sub-postmistress, won't find themselves without a business account! However, I'm sure lots of small business start-ups struggle. I can't stand Farage and think he's seriously damaged our country but really this is, unless there's serious corruption we are unaware of, the thin edge of the wedge.
Maizie, that was also pointed out to Farage last night on Newsnight, by Frances Coppola. She also says she expects the FCA to find no rules were breached.
But Farage knows that facts get lost all too easily in hyperbole, and that his core supporters don’t care about them anyway.
The reason his account was closed was because, once he'd paid off his mortgage, it was no longer commercially viable. He's not eligible to bank at Coutts and they didn't want to make an exception for him.
Read the memo in its entirety and follow the timeline. It's all in there.
The documentation released to Farage says, repeatedly,
" he meets the Economic Contribution (EC) criteria for commercial retention".
"The Committee did not think continuing to bank (?) NF was compatible with Coutts given his publicly stated views that were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation."
Inclusive of whom?
Read it all eazybee, not just the highlights. And read the dates when statements were made.
Yes - but this grubby little xenophobic, racist man will keep the story going for as long as he is in the spotlight.
Nothing will come of it - it is a non-story.
Has Farage appealed to the Ombudsman? Of course not.
I'm with you Gilly. He's the most loathsome creature. I think it's completely reasonable for businesses not to have to trade with people they don't like. Might be behind the times though as I can remember various incidents where gay people have been refused service because of proprietors religious views, a d the guy people have successfully sued them for discrimination.
Jaberwok
And you have proof of that vegansrock? I'd be careful if I were you,your comment could be described as libelous.
Farage set up ukip as the sole member, and encouraged supporters to pay donations money into his personal account.
It has never been explained what happened to this money and no accounts ever produced. One gran said that she sent him £50k 😮
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